Overview

The Abbey of Byland was regarded in its heyday as one of the three great monasteries of the north, alongside Rievaulx and Fountains. But its beginnings were unpromising: it was only after 43 years, and numerous moves from one unsuitable site to another, that the community of Byland found its permanent home. It started life across the Pennines as a monastery of the reforming order of Savigny, founded from Furness Abbey in Cumberland, and was absorbed into the larger Cistercian order in 1147.

The remains of the abbey are remarkable for the exceptionally large cloister and the scale of the church, reflecting the size of the community which once lived here. The beautiful west front, with its ruined great rose window, is an outstanding example of early Gothic architecture.

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